Updating a search index used to facilitate application searches

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9600530-B2
Application number	US-201313842215-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2013
Priority date	Apr 27, 2012
Publication date	Mar 21, 2017
Grant date	Mar 21, 2017

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for maintaining a search index used to support application searches. The techniques include receiving application data from one or more data sources, identifying an application referenced in the application data. The techniques further include extracting a plurality of attributes corresponding to the application from the application data based on an application specific search schema. The techniques also include generating an application representation of the application based on the plurality of attributes and the application specific search schema. The techniques also include updating a search index with the application representation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for maintaining search indexes used to support application searches, the method comprising:
receiving, at a processing device, application data from a plurality of data sources, the application data being text describing one or more applications, wherein:
the plurality of data sources includes a first electronic application marketplace and a second electronic application marketplace, and
the application data includes (i) first application data received from the first electronic application marketplace and (ii) second application data received from the second electronic application marketplace;

identifying, at the processing device, an application referenced in the application data, wherein:
the first application data describes a first application edition of the application, and
the second application data describes a second application edition of the application;

generating, at the processing device, a plurality of attributes corresponding to the application from the application data referencing the application, including the first application data received from the first electronic application marketplace and the second application data received from the second electronic application marketplace, based on an application search specific schema, wherein the application search specific schema defines a structure of an application representation and one or more types of attributes that can be used to describe a given application;
generating, at the processing device, an application representation of the application based on the plurality of attributes and the application search specific schema, the application representation defining the attributes of the application, including a text description and a rating of the application and being based on the application data from the plurality of data sources; and
updating a search index based on the application representation.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the application data is received in at least one of an unstructured format, a structured format, or a semi-structured format.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the application representation references a canonical application and one or more edition applications, the canonical application being a representative of the one or more edition applications.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein identifying the application includes identifying, at the processing device, the canonical application and the one or more edition applications based on the application data.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein generating the plurality of attributes includes:
extracting, at the processing device, a plurality of general attributes corresponding to the canonical application from the application data; and
extracting, at the processing device, a plurality of edition attributes for each of the one or more edition applications from the application data.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein at least a subset of the plurality of edition attributes is inherited by the plurality of general attributes.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein generating the application representation includes organizing the plurality of general attributes and the plurality of edition attributes for each of the one or more edition applications according to the application search specific schema.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search index indexes a searchable database storing a plurality of application representations, each application representation representing a different application.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the search index is searchable by attributes of the plurality of application representations, wherein the search index returns one or more application representations having a particular attribute in response to a query for the particular attribute.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the attributes includes:
combining, at the processing device, two or more instances of application data; and
generating, at the processing device, an attribute based on text contained in the combination of the application data, wherein the attribute is not wholly contained in any one of the instances of the application data.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving third application data from one of the plurality of data sources;
comparing the third application data to a set of predefined canonical applications;
in response to the third application data matching one of the set of predefined canonical applications, grouping the third application data as an edition of the one of the set of predefined canonical applications;
in response to the third application data not matching the set of predefined canonical applications, comparing the third application data to a set of previously-identified canonical applications;
in response to the third application data matching one of the set of previously-identified canonical applications, grouping the third application data as an edition of the one of the set of previously-identified canonical applications; and
in response to the third application data not matching the set of previously-identified canonical applications, creating a new identified canonical application based on the third application data.

12. A server comprising:
a storage device having a search index stored thereon, the search index indexing a plurality of application representations; and
a processing device executing computer readable instructions, the computer readable instructions causing the processing device to:
receive application data from a plurality of data sources, wherein:
the plurality of data sources includes a first electronic application marketplace and a second electronic application marketplace, and
the application data includes (i) first application data received from the first electronic application marketplace and (ii) second application data received from the second electronic application marketplace;

identify an application referenced in the application data, wherein:
the first application data describes a first application edition of the application, and
the second application data describes a second application edition of the application;

generate a plurality of attributes corresponding to the application from the application data referencing the application, including the first application data received from the first electronic application marketplace and the second application data received from the second electronic application marketplace, based on an application search specific schema, wherein the application search specific schema defines a structure of an application representation and one or more types of attributes that can be used to describe a given application;
generate an application representation of the application based on the plurality of attributes and the application search specific schema, the application representation defining the attributes of the application, including a text description and a rating of the application and being based on the application data from the plurality of data sources; and
update the search index based on the application representation.

13. The server of claim 12 , wherein the application data is received in at least one of an unstructured format, a structured format, or a semi-structured format.

14. The server of claim 11 , wherein the application representation references a canonical application and one or more edition applications, wherein the canonical application is associated with each one of the one or more edition applications.

15. The server of claim 14 , wherein identifying the applica

Assignees

• Quixey Inc

Inventors

• Glover Eric
• Shapira Liron
• Tarleton Nicolas

Classifications

• G06F17/3053 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30613

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30864

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30943

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F16/90 Primary

  Details of database functions independent of the retrieved data types · CPC title